The present invention relates to tongue depressors able to hold the standard sized stick of a hard candy confection such as a lollipop.
In the course of a medical examination of a child or infant, the mouth invariably needs to be examined by the practitioner or doctor. Traditionally, a tongue depressor is used to hold the tongue down so that a clear examination of the patient's throat can be made. However, the practitioner or doctor does not always receive the full cooperation of the patient. As an incentive to cooperate, a young patient can be enticed with the potential reward of a candy confection such as a lollipop.
It is well known in the art to combine the functions of a tongue depressor and candy confection. As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,425,945, granted to Leach, a small portion of an end of a body member is channeled out creating an opening and a candy confection is molded onto the body member.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,857,908, granted to Cornfield, a flat, elongated, straight body has molded around it a candy or confection. Openings in the body allow the candy or confection to extend therethrough, thus securing the candy to the body.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,927, granted to Hergott, the candy or confection is molded onto a narrow extension of a blade and subsequently sealed in a transparent enclosure.
Each of the prior art patents mentioned above teaches in some fashion to mold candy or confection to or around a portion of a tongue depressor blade. In each case, the candy or confection is molded directly to the tongue depressor portion during the manufacturing process.
A disadvantage of these prior art inventions is that the candy confection must be molded directly to the tongue depressor. This requires an additional manufacturing step adding to the cost of any product embodying the invention. In addition, the candy or confection is not securely held to the tongue depressor permitting it to fall or break off as the candy or confection is consumed.
Another disadvantage of the prior art inventions is that there is no simple method of replenishing the candy confection portion once the candy confection portion is consumed. Consequently, the tongue depressor will typically be discarded after the candy portion is consumed.